Thinking of this, Yue Qingyin felt even more resentful.
She could have avoided entering the palace and lived happily ever after with Prince Anxian, but now she is trapped in this cage, forced to stay with a dull, unintelligent man, truly wasting her youth.
She turned her head and walked away in the opposite direction from Jun Zhe without looking back.
Jun Zhe's harem was sparsely populated, and many palaces were empty. Yue Qingyin wandered further and further off the beaten path, eventually reaching a deserted palace. Just as she turned a corner, she suddenly heard a soft exclamation. "Qingyin?"
"Ah!" Yue Qingyin cried out in surprise, startling the palace maids and nannies behind her.
"What's wrong, Your Highness?"
"Your Majesty, please be careful."
Yue Qingyin looked at the slightly swaying flower bushes in front of her, composed herself, and said calmly, "It's nothing! Why is this place deserted?"
“Your Majesty, this used to be the Cold Palace…” Cai Ling didn’t finish her sentence, but Yue Qingyin immediately understood. Since His Majesty hadn’t favored anyone, there was no falling out of favor, no palace intrigue, so the Cold Palace was now abandoned.
She looked at the flower bushes and said calmly, "I want to go in and take a look. You all step back and are not allowed to follow me in."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you can't go in!" Cailing hurriedly stopped her. "The Cold Palace is inauspicious. Your Majesty is a noble person. If you go into such a place, you might be tainted with bad luck. Your Majesty, please think twice."
Yue Qingyin sneered, "What's there to be afraid of? I fear neither gods nor ghosts!" Besides, what difference is there between her current state and that of the Cold Palace?
"Your Majesty!" Cailing hurriedly followed.
Yue Qingyin shouted sternly, "Step back fifty paces! No one is allowed to approach! Today, I am determined to explore the Cold Palace in the rain. Anyone who dares to disobey my orders will be beaten to death!"
Everyone felt a chill and obediently retreated to a very far place.
Yue Qingyin breathed a sigh of relief, a strange flutter rising in her heart, her cheeks slightly flushed. She paused for a moment, then quickly walked towards the Cold Palace.
After the flowers rustled, she vaguely saw people heading towards the Cold Palace. If she wasn't mistaken, she was sure she would see the man she longed for day and night, Prince Anxian, Jun Qiming, in the Cold Palace!
The Cold Palace was filled with cobwebs and broken tiles, and rainwater flowed across the ground. Yet, a person stood in the hall, wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, seemingly radiating light, illuminating Yue Qingyin's desolate heart.
"Enlightenment!"
Yue Qingyin stood gracefully in the rain and called out mournfully.
Jun Qiming, with a handsome face, nodded with a smile, "Qingyin, how have you been!"
A simple "How have you been?" stirred up many memories for Yue Qingyin, leaving her momentarily at a loss for words. "How are you?"
Jun Qiming smiled brightly. "Very good!"
Just as Yue Qingyin was about to say something, a person dressed in a straw raincoat and bamboo hat walked out from behind a dragon pillar.
"Not only is it good, but Brother Qiming is now enjoying His Majesty's great favor and is at the height of his power. I admire him to the extreme."
The sudden appearance of the man startled Yue Qingyin. She instinctively took a step back and asked warily, "Who are you?"
The palace has always been strictly regulated. Prince Anxian is a member of the royal family, so it's possible for him to enter and leave the palace by bribing his way in through a side door. So how did this man get in?
He also witnessed himself and Prince Anxian calling each other by name and meeting in private, and he feared that a moment of carelessness could lead to his annihilation.
The man glanced at the rain and saw that it wasn't heavy. He then lifted his straw hat, revealing a face that was both effeminate and ruthless.
"I am Dugu Feng, the sixth prince of Rong Kingdom!"
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